Living the 'Dream' Job
by Alex Rennwood
Summary: Most Pokemon trainers dream of working for Devon Corp. to test out the newest gadgets and gizmos churned out from the top R & D lab. But they don't know about some of the immoral experiments that are the result of vying for fame and fortune.
1. Don't PISS of the sleeping Eevee

"Come back here!"

A little Eevee disappeared into the grass giggling, leaving behind a trail of bent blades in her wake. Her trainer stood up, giving out an annoyed sigh as he did.

'Ugh, what now?' he thought to himself while walking toward the chest high grass. 'She's in so much trouble when I find her. Why I oughta...' OOF!

The devious Eevee tackled her trainer onto his back, pinning him down at his arms to show her dominance. A wide grin spread across her lips, obviously having fun.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! In your Pokéball you go, right now!" the bewildered trainer spat out as he struggled for the Pokéball at his waist.

"Lex, time to wake up!" the Eevee mouthed at him.

"When...did you start talking?" Lex lay there, puzzled.

"Wake up dear or your breakfast will get cold!" she shouted at him, still grinning.

"...Mom? What the hell is..." he blurted out.

The blurred surroundings faded into darkness as Lex drifted towards the dimming sky hopelessly confused.

Total darkness enveloped everything.

Silence.

Lex peered at his surroundings with a sleepy eye. Morning sunlight gently beamed through the window blinds, casting off a warm golden glow throughout the room. Rosa, his recently given Eevee, was gently snoring on his chest, refusing to stay in her Pokéball and claimed his chest as her personal bed. Brenda, his Combusken, was nowhere to be seen, maybe having breakfast.

'Jeez, she bothers me even in my dreams' Lex thought groggily.

Gently shifting Rosa onto the bed as to not wake her, Lex stood up and stretched, giving off a hearty yawn heard throughout the household. Rosa bolted up ready to attack. Realizing it was only Lex, she growled menacingly at her trainer to show her displeasure of waking up too early for her taste. Ending his yawn with a chuckle, Lex reached over to the temperamental Eevee before him on the unkempt bed.

"Sorry to wake you up a little early, Rose," Lex said, shuffling her brown, pointy ears.

Rosa shot him what seemed like an 'I'll-get-you-back-later' kind of look and resumed her morning beauty nap.

"Yeah good morning to you too," he said walking out of his room.

Lex lumbered down the stairs and noticed something was different about his mom's usual cooking this morning.

*gRrrrrRRRRrrr*

His stomach growled upon smelling food emanating from the kitchen. Musing over what was his mom prepared for him, Lex shook the thought out of his mind after deeming it too torturous to think of food in his sleepy stupor. He rounded the corner and stared at the scene before him.

A woman busily shuffled around by the open fridge, slamming it closed with inattentive care, humming the day away. Tottering quite precariously in her arms were a couple of drinking glasses and a jug filled to the brim with refreshingly cold Miltank milk. She dropped all of the items near a plate full of something, Lex couldn't quite make it out. The sleepy in his eyes needed some rubbing away. She turned around to pour herself a glass of milk and noticed Lex gazing around the kitchen with a glazed look.

"Good to see you're finally up, Lex! I was starting to worry that you'd oversleep the big meeting your father arranged," Catherine exclaimed, setting down another cup of milk along side a plate loaded with pancakes, over-easy Chansey eggs, and some sausages.

Lex looked over at his mother. She was currently attacking a pile of dishes and pans in the sink with a tenacity no other woman he knew could. Her usual attire consisted of a light yellow t-shirt with a white apron woven around her waist, spotless as usual. Khaki colored jeans hid behind the apron that were only apparent on the bottom, along with her favorite Rattata shaped slippers she wore indoors. Brown wavy hair hung neatly to her shoulders and caring dark brown eyes glanced over her shoulder to her son.

"You have about 30 minutes 'til the meeting starts so hurry up, eat up, and get ready," explained Catherine.

"Yeah okay," replied Lex. Saliva started to overflow his mouth at the sight of the filling breakfast before him. He greedily sat down in front of the plate and ate as fast as humanly possible without choking.

"Oh, woreisbeda?" Lex managed to say through a mouthful of eggs.

"What dear? Swallow your food, I can't understand you," Catherine replied.

Grabbing the glass of milk and drinking until the food was secure in his stomach, Lex asked again.

"Where did Brenda go? I didn't see her on my way down."

"She's out back, doing her usual training in the morning."

"Oh okay. Thanks for breakfast oh great Mother of mine," Lex said, giving his mother a quick peck on the cheek and ran back upstairs to get dressed.

"That was awfully fast of you to eat like that. Slow down next time," said Catherine in a mock scolding tone. She turned around to grin at Lex, only to be greeted with the empty plates and cup left by Lex. Muttering to herself about Lex and his laziness, she grabbed them and released them alongside the other dirty dishes.

Bounding up the stairs three at a time, Lex stopped in front of his door, half expecting an Eevee to jump out at him. Peering through the crack of the door, he scanned the area for any sign of Rosa. The bed is still unmade. An indent of where the Eevee previously slept is currently unoccupied. A pile of dirty clothes littered the floor. Lex opened the door cautiously.

'No sign of her,' he thought. 'I hope she's downstairs.' Lex deemed the room free of any vengeful Eevee's and headed in to grab some clean clothes. Still no sign of Rosa anywhere so he headed for the shower.

Rosa lie quietly under the bed, her mind set on how to punish him for that unexpected wake up call. Silently snickering, she watched as Lex walked into the bathroom and closed the door. The familiar 'click' of the lock rang out and the muffled rustling of clothes being hastily thrown off was quickly overpowered by the zip of the shower curtains.

'Perfect. Now for his due punishment,' thought Rosa. Crawling out from under the bed frame, she couldn't help but grin while grabbing the essential materials for her plan to work. A chair, some books, and of course more books. She heard the shower head turn on and some off tune humming that Lex was prone to doing every once in a while.

Quietly, gently, Rosa scooted the chair so that it leaned against the bathroom doorknob and started to pick up the books one by one, stacking them in a way so that no amount of banging would knock them off the chair. She stood back, admiring her handy work. A fit of giggles escaped her, her mind's eye portraying her version of events to come.

*A surprised Lex bumping into the door, finding it won't open. After attempting to open the door, some banging would ensue, along with some profanity thrown in for good measure. An enraged Brenda comes crashing up the stairs to save her trainer while Rosa hid under the bed, enjoying Lex's pleas for help.*

'Now that's good enough for me,' mused Rosa. She strutted downstairs with an air of personal accomplishment. All that plotting and moving objects really worked up her appetite so she was looking forward to some Magost berries for breakfast. As Rosa rounded the corner to the kitchen, a rustled Combusken walked in from the front door, with ruffled feathers and a few scratch marks marring her arms.

"So how was training this morning?" Rosa asked in her native tongue.

"Well it's the usual. You're not up to anything today, like planning world domination or something hair-brained and dangerous?" replied Brenda casually, trying to catch her breath.

"Nothing that'll hurt anybody so don't you worry. Not yet anyways," Rosa said, smiling toward the kitchen, bushy brown tail waving behind her in delight.

'Hope that 'not yet anyways' doesn't involves Lex,' Brenda thought to herself. Passing it off as Rosa's usual morning attitude, Brenda shrugged it off her mind and entered the kitchen to eat something as well.

"Oh hey ladies. So I'm guessing you both are hungry," Catherine said to the two Pokémon as they entered and claimed their spots at the table.

"Eevee!" "Combusken!" they both cried in agreement.

"Heheh okay I see that you both are starving. Just lemme finish up a bit and I'll get right to your usuals." Chinkling of plates being shoved into the drainer were quite prominent for about a minute. Then Catherine went over to the fridge and pulled out a plate full of Magost and Razz berries.

"Well eat up then. Brenda, you should clean up a bit for that meeting Lex has. You too Rose. From what Darin was talking about over dinner last night, it sounded like Lex will need you both at the meeting with him." Both the Combusken and Eevee nodded their heads in unison, their mouths too full of berries to say a verbal 'Yes' as Catherine headed outside to take a break from housework.

Meanwhile upstairs, Lex finished up showering. Groping around for the towel nearby, he dried himself and looked in the mirror. A young man stared back at him with brown, unkempt hair dangling about around his neck and a lighter shade of brown eyes. He wasn't really toned, but still some muscle features poked throughout his body.

'Well time to head over to the Devon building. Dad'll get annoyed if I'm late again,' Lex said to himself. Grabbing his clean clothes, he rushed to put them on and glanced at his watch laying on the sink.

9:13 A.M. it blinked.

"Oh man only 17 minutes 'til the meeting starts! Better skip brushing my teeth, I gotta go now!" exclaimed Lex to no one in particular.

Making sure that he had his card for entering the Devon Corp. building to prove he worked there, Lex turned the doorknob and pushed. The door refused to open, only shaking a little to show it was securely shut. Lex looked down at the doorknob to making sure it wasn't locked. Puzzled, he grasped the handle and heaved with all his might. It opened only a few millimeters then stopped. Lex thought for a moment, then it hit him.

"DAMMIT ROSE! COME AND OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW!," hollered an annoyed Lex through the door crack.

'Dammit I'm gonna be late.'


	2. Payback will come later, gotta run NOW!

Lex surveyed the bathroom for an alternate exit. The window would've done, but it was on the second floor of the house. As desperate as the situation was, a broken leg isn't worth the meeting. He scowled, glancing at the watch, again.

9:15 A.M.

'Shit...'

Lex jammed the watch onto his wrist carelessly.

'Why now of all times?' Lex palmed his forehead in frustration.

*****

As the two Pokemon finished up their respective meals, a muffled furious voice rang from the upstairs bathroom.

"THIS IS NO TIME TO JOKE AROUND, LET ME OUT NOW!!!"

Immediately Brenda cast Rosa a questioning look.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" Brenda asked the Eevee, who was currently cleaning herself.

"Hmm...maybe, maybe not. Better go check on him. As you can see, I'm quite busy at the moment," answered Rosa, uninterested in the events happening in the house and more into cleaning her fur.

'Boy she's a handful. How does Lex put up with her?' Brenda thought as she headed towards the stairs. Listening intently for any more yelling from Lex, Brenda bound up the stairs 4 at a time to make sure nothing bad happened to him. The first thing she saw was a chair piled with heavy books, leaning in front of the bathroom door. Laughing a little at the sight of what that Eevee devised, Brenda shoved the chair away with ease and moved out of the door's way.

'Well, here goes nothing...' Lex thought as readied himself against the shower. 'This better work...'

After mentally preparing himself for the upcoming clash, Lex ran with all his might, shoulder leading the way. He winced as the door came within inches of his body and prepared for the bounce back. But no resistance came.

The bathroom door flung open with a fury in front of Brenda, hinges threatening to pop off. A genuinely confused Lex burst out of the aftermath hurtling towards a very surprised and frightened Combusken. Instinctively, Brenda lashed out at Lex to protect herself and jumped out of the way. He crashed on the wall headlong, adding insult to injury, and slumped down in a daze.

Today just did not start off so well.

"Ughhh," he groaned, massaging his head.

"Com...busken?" Brenda asked (Are...you okay?), obviously doing her best not to break down laughing. It wasn't funny in reality but she just couldn't help herself.

"I'm alright...thanks Brenda!" was all she managed to hear along with the ruffling of her feather crest as Lex shot down the stairs with no apparent care of whether he tripped or not, as long as he was outside and running towards the general direction of the Devon building. Brenda soon followed chuckling, calling for Rosa as she walked past the kitchen. Rosa came out of the kitchen, admiring her fur with every step.

"Hurry up. Jump on my back and hold on," Brenda ordered.

"Yeah yeah. Upsidaisy," Rosa said as she jumped on and clutched a bundle of feathers near her shoulders, holding on for dear life.

"So tell me, what did Lex do that deserved your wrath?" asked Brenda with a grin.

"Try waking up to his yawns. See if you like them as your personal alarm clock," Rosa replied bluntly. Brenda laughed while she started to catch up to Lex, who was already near the Pokémon Center.

"Believe me, I know what you mean. That's why I do my best to wake up early and train 'til breakfast." Brenda shot off without warning and the wailing starts.

Rustboro City is full of life during dawn, as usual. Many would-be Pokémon trainers heading off to the Pokémon Trainer's School, eager to learn new things about Pokémon, battling, and the many items used during travels. 'Oohs' and 'aahs' came from a clique of students' as a cheerful Combusken with a screaming Eevee clinging on its back zoomed past by them on the street. The kids were cooing to each other "I'll have that Pokémon as my starter!" and "What are those two up to?" as Brenda and Rosa caught up to Lex.

A familiar tan yellow skyscraper surrounded by a fence and dotted with lamp posts was nearing. A sign that proudly displayed

DEVON CORPORATION "For all your living needs, we make it all."

stood near the entrance of the fence.

Lex keeled over, clutching his chest to try and calm down his breathing. As he stood up and resumed walking toward the building, Brenda dropped by his shoulder with the Eevee hopping down shakily from her back.

"Eevee vee vee eev eevee EEVEE!," Rosa spat out to Brenda. (Remind me to never do that AGAIN!)

"Oh hi girls. Rose..." Lex eyed the Eevee, "That wasn't funny you know. I could've gotten fired or at least put down to janitorial duty if I was ever late again."

"Eevee! Eevee eev eevee?!" she defended herself with innocent eyes (Me? How could you?!).

Seeing that she wouldn't confess to her crime, Lex grabbed her to his chest and stared down her hazel eyes.

"You will confess..." he said in a drawling tone with wide, blank eyes, trying to hypnotize the Eevee into confession.

She just smiled, her way of showing playfulness to him.

"Hahah you little rascal," said Lex. He ruffled her furry cream colored collar of fur and set her down.

"Please don't do that again. Once is good enough," Lex pleaded to Rosa.

"Eevee..." replied Rosa, ears bending flat to her head to show her 'guilt'.

Lex continued to walk until they came up to the building. Employees dotted the parking lot sidewalk, probably taking a break. Most of them were from the Research and Development department, which he happened to be part of. Saying his 'Hellos' to the ones he knew, he headed toward the door to the R & D room and beyond. A security guard halted him, even though he knew Lex worked there.

"Your card," ordered the burly bald guy in standard security guard uniform.

"How are you doing today Jeff?" asked Lex as he handed his card to the enormous man. Jeff put the card to his nose, looking for the holographic symbol ingrained in the laminated card for authenticity. He deemed it the real thing and turned to swipe it through a scanner.

'NAME: ALEX DEAN RENNWOOD. DEPARTMENT: R & D ASSISTANT. SECURITY CLEARANCE: GREEN' the scanner chirped.

"The usual, you know, not much happening, really. I wish there was some action going on around here. Something to break the monotony," replied the security guard.

"I know what you mean. Well, I'm almost late for the meeting so could you hurry this up a bit? Oh and my Pokémon will be with me too, just in case you get any wrong ideas," said Lex.

"Sure, you're good. Tell Darin I said hi. I never see him leave for break yet, so send my regards to him if he's still alive," joked Jeff.

"Yeah, sure thing," Lex ended the conversation and headed up the stairs.

Brenda and Rosa gave Jeff an uneasy stare as they passed by him. He just gave Lex's Pokémon a goofy grin and resumed his guard duty. Even though they came here just about every day, the size of Jeff still gave Brenda and Rosa the creeps.

As he reached the second level, his ears picked up the familiar 'ticka-ticka' of computer keyboards typing down research notes and data from previous tests. Brenda and Rosa trailed Lex's footsteps as he wormed his way around many desks and people. Some of the researchers stopped what they were doing and greeted Lex and his Pokémon.

"So, how is the Eevee I gave you doing?" asked a guy with a lab coat couple sizes too large for him, hiding behind a computer screen.

"Well it depends on how you ask that question Mark," Lex replied, making his way to the President's Room.

"Still temperamental I see," the researcher-named-Mark popped his head from the side to glance at Rosa.

A balding blond top was prevalent along with blue colored eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. She huffed and turned her face away with a nose in the air to show she doesn't care.

"Well I hope she isn't too much of a hassle for ya Lex. Bill would love to see an Espeon or an Umbreon from that Eevee he sent us. Seems as though it'll take a while for that to happen though," reasoned Mark, pushing up his glasses.

"She's okay once you get to know her. It just takes a while for her to grow on to you."

"Good to hear that. Well you better hurry and go to that meeting the Boss has been harping about since your father came up with the idea."

"Yeah, I'd already be there were it not for a certain SOMEONE to mess up my morning," said Lex eying Rosa over his shoulder.

"Heheh okay then. Hope that meeting is as important as it sounds," Mark ended and resumed typing on the keyboard. "Oh, hello Brenda."

Brenda did her best to smile at Mark, then continued shadowing Lex.

The stairs to the President's Room looked inconspicuous as ever, looking like any normal stairwell would. Unknown to anybody who doesn't work there, the stairwell was laden with sensors that scanned for the right security clearance chip implanted in the cards issued to Devon employees. Any persons not carrying the right chip would alert Jeff right away to run up and apprehend said offender. Previous encounters with Team Aqua and Magma lead to the tighter security in the building.

Lex's card was issued to him yesterday, given to him personally by the President. Trusting his card, he stepped forward and waited. Nothing happened, except for a faint whirring noise emanating from within the walls. Lex shrugged off the noises and climbed the stairwell with Brenda and Rosa on his heels.

A couple flights of stairs later, he stopped in front of a door and knocked three times.

"Come on in, we've been expecting you Alex," a voice boomed from within. Mustering his confidence, Lex opened the door and stepped in.


	3. Why do I have to sit through this?

Lex opened the double doors of the President's room. His first impression was of how relaxing and regal the atmosphere in the room felt. Beautiful plush red carpet with gold embroidery covered the expanse of the floor. Red waist high wall trimming hugged the four walls. Gray wallpaper with an elegant lighter gray design spanned the rest of the walls to the ceiling. The ceiling was covered in what looked like midnight blue velvet. An expensive chandelier hung gracefully over a polished black marble topped table with golden yellow trimmings and wonderfully designed legs. Wide open windows gladly welcomed in the morning sunlight and the bustling city view along with the blue, rolling waves of the ocean. Near the windows facing the cheery glow of the sun were a pair of glass cases, each housing many different rocks that gleamed the light around the room in their own unique way.

"Enjoying the scenery?" an elderly gentleman asked smiling at him. Hearing him brought Lex back to reality. He turned to face the table with Devon's top researchers sitting around it, an old man with a tacky blue suit and graying hair in the middle.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Stone. It's just that I've never been up here before," apologized Lex.

Mr. Stone chuckled. "Well, let's get on with the meeting, we were waiting for you."

Lex was about to argue with the President, then thought better of it. "You can thank Rose for that," he muttered, eying the Eevee behind him.

The Devon President peered at Rose and gave a smirk. She stuck out her tongue towards the old man and resumed not caring about what was happening.

"Hoho! Bill said you were a fickle one. Hello Brenda, how are you today?" Mr. Stone asked.

"Combusken! Bus-ken?" Brenda exclaimed, smiling back the only way her species can. (translation-Fantastic! And you?)

"I'm fine as well, thank you for asking. Anyways, please sit down Alexander so Matthew and your father may elaborate upon their idea. It's quite remarkable, really, and it may revolutionize the way humans and Pokémon will understand each other...

"Oh! What am I saying? Haha, droning on as usual. Do sit down, no need to stand through the whole meeting," Mr. Stone gestured to the empty chair besides Darin. Lex nodded and sat down. Beside the table were charts, diagrams, pictures, and miscellaneous research notes strewn about in an organized fashion.

"Umm, what about my Pokémon?" Lex asked, curious as to why they were needed.

"They may sit over there and help themselves to some food if they'd like to. You'll know of their importance later on," Mr. Stone pointed to the corner of the room with a table full of various berries and Pokémon food.

"Oh okay. Go ahead girls, just don't make too much trouble." Brenda and Rosa glanced at each other and smiled, knowing that last remark was meant for Rosa. They giggled a little and proceeded to the table.

"Matthew, if you would please," Mr. Stone said to one of the people sitting down. A grouchy looking researcher stood up, giving off a sigh as he did. He moved towards the research notes to begin his presentation. He cleared his throat a few times and began his speech.

"As most of you may know, a few years back I built a device that allowed some form of communication with Pokémon. The machine, theoretically, would allow conversations to take place just as clearly as I am speaking with you now," Matthew exclaimed, pointing to a picture of a very bulky machine, sensors and lines splattered around it.

"The prototype is quite bulky and the translating software is shoddy at best. Darin and I attempted to refine this process to the best of our abilities, but to no avail. A couple months of researching the nuances of Pokéspeak and tweaking with the device produced little progress, with the machine only capable of a few simple conversations." Matthew brought up a laptop and showed everyone some footage of Darin attempting a conversation with a Machoke, but ending it in frustration as the machine started to translate oddly. - -

"I considered giving up on the idea after that, as there wasn't enough data on the Pokémon language for a flawless and smooth translator to be coded. That is, until Darin came up with a better idea on how to approach this! We rethought the processes and started new research, discarding the previous attempt as a failed experiment.

"He based the idea off of how children between the ages of one and six have an obscenely easier time learning a language than children above that age range." Matthew pulled a video clip montage of some children speaking and understanding a language that wasn't native to their heritage.

"Since most of society wouldn't allow their kids to live with Pokémon alone, most of the Pokémon language is relatively unknown to us and hard to decipher, hence the shoddy translator of my previous machine.

"We researched what part of the brain stores language memory and learning, in both humans and Pokémon. What we have found out that with a certain chemical we could disconnect synapses made by the neurons in the brain, rendering it like a newborn baby's brain would." He displayed pictures and research notes through a projector pointed at a white board for all to see. "Free to reconnect as they would please to learn a different language or skill. Quite brilliant, as much as I hate to admit it." A few fellow researchers agreed to that as well.

"Of course, all of this is theory and simulating the human brain and yet-to-be-named chemical within a supercomputer can only do so much in a virtual world. A real world test would be needed to verify the hypothesis.

"Now Darin, if you weren't so lazy as to join me, would you care to take over for a few minutes?" Matthew looked over to his colleague, who was lounging back on his chair looking out in space, lost in thought.

"Wha...oh! Heheh, sorry 'bout that Matt, sure thing" Darin apologized, sitting up straight and rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Matthew grumbled something to himself and reclaimed his spot by the President.

"Heh, caught me off guard there Matt. Anyways, as he was saying," Darin moved to where Matthew previously was, "It does have its risks, such as some memory loss or unable to relearn the previous language, as careful as we may be. That's why I came up with a second idea should we deem my first idea too dangerous or risky to do.

"History tells us of a few people who have been in contact with what we now know as the Pokémon Virus, or Pokérus for short," Darin pulled out a few files on the laptop and set them on the projector. "Upon getting the infection and surviving it, they have been granted with the ability to speak with Pokémon as if they were one themselves, literally! I've done some research on how that process is possible. A really big thanks to Professor Oak for lending me some of his research notes," a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' escaped some researchers lips, "And what I've found out may be a little disturbing to hear.

"What the Pokérus does, asides from letting Pokémon grow substantially stronger during the course of the infection, is replacing part of the host's DNA with parts from the infected Pokémon before it." Darin showed a computer simulation of that event. "Since most of the time the one being infected is a Pokémon, the physical effects are negligible. But when the infected Pokémon somehow transmits the infection to a human or their trainer, the changes can be quite dramatic.

"Some cases report that the infected human takes on the features of the previous Pokémon host and stay that way for life, although retaining human features such as bi-pedaled walking and a mostly human physiology." Darin pulled up an ancient depiction of how the human would look when they survived the Pokérus, as they were the only known source of the phenomena.

"The infected human will take on the skin of the previous Pokémon host on both the color and composition. Meaning if the skin of the Pokémon were covered in red and orange feathers," Darin eyed Brenda for an example, "The human would take on that appearance as well.

"Since obtaining Pokérus and keeping it alive is just about impossible, I've devised a substitute by using another virus similar in structure." Darin put on a diagram of the Pokérus as well as the replacement virus, which was labeled 'Human Immunodeficiency Virus'.

"I've made sure that there are no HIV with their original DNA in the culture sample I have concocted. I've yet to replace the DNA, but in theory I should be able to replace it with some other viruses DNA, perhaps the cold virus, with some specific Pokémon DNA fragments thrown in to emulate the Pokérus to the best of my abilities. Of course, it would be nice to obtain a sample of Pokérus, as the real deal would be a great specimen to observe and research and that's where my son comes in.

"Now my son Alex," Darin looked towards Lex, "Has been quite vital to the success of this company, as he field tests most of our inventions geared towards Pokémon trainers and with great success too I might add. I will ask him to look for a Pokémon carrying the virus. Details on the method for detecting such a virus will be discussed later on." Lex's heart beat a little faster upon hearing his name and shifted around nervously in his chair to regain some of his composure.

"Yes he has Darin and is doing a spectacular job at doing so," Mr. Stone interjected.

"Er, thanks?" Lex replied.

"Now I believe you should now know the purpose of this meeting Alex. What's your say in all this?" the President asked.

Lex mulled things over, organizing all the information in his mind to try and make sense of them.

"Take your time. It's your choice whether to pursue your father and Matthew's idea or not. At the mean time, we are adjourned, seeing as some of our group is getting a little restless," Mr. Stone smiled toward Lex's Pokémon. They were having a little berry war with each other. The researchers all stood up and stretched, then proceeded to the lower levels to take a break.

"Uhm, okay. I'll have my answer by tomorrow morning," Lex added and went over to the table of war.

"Girls! What are you doing?! Ugh, jeez Rose. Do you always have to make things complicated for me?" He asked the Eevee. Razz berry and other indistinguishable berry juice splattered all over her usually well maintained brown and cream fur.

"Eevee, eev-ee eev eev eevee ee," she pointed at Brenda with her tail. (translation-Well, it was her fault at first)

"Busken! Combusken combusken!" Brenda argued back, flicking what appeared to be Belue berries off of her orange and red feathers. (translation-Yeah right! She always starts it!)

"Ergh, lets go and clean up at home. I'm sorry about the mess Mr. Stone. I'll clean it up right away," Lex apologized.

Chuckling, Mr. Stone replied, "Well I'd get pretty bored too if I had to sit through," he glanced at his watch, "Two hours of lecture with nothing to do and a lot of food set out before me so no matter. I'll just send someone to clean up, that's all," he said walking over to the window and watching the bustling city below.

"Um, okay. Thanks," Lex gave a last goodbye and headed for the door, his berry covered Pokémon trailing him as usual. He heard giggles as they walked down the stairwell. Brenda and Rosa both glancing at each other in amusement and laughed at their own expense.

'Jeez, why did they have to embarrass me like that in front of him?' Lex thought while walking to the floor level of the building. The Pokémon girls were still giggling as they followed their trainer out of the building and towards home.

"What's so funny, huh?" Lex turned around and saw his Pokémon. Brenda looked like a spotted blue Noctowl and Rosa an odd colored Flareon. He couldn't help but give off a little laugh as well.

"Aw, come here you," Lex grabbed the 'Flareon' and held her, not caring if he was getting berry juice on his clothes. Brenda felt a little left out so she jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling all that Belue berry juice from her feathers onto his back, hair, and arms.

"Very funny, Brenda. Now I need to shower all over again. Well, it's about noon and we have all day free so I guess we could train a bit. Sounds like a plan then?" He asked the Combusken nestled comfortably on his back.

"Busken!" Brenda replied happily.

"Glad to hear that. You, on the other hand, will get a good wash down from Mom and will stay inside. You'll be of no trouble, you hear?" he ordered the red Eevee in his arms. She looked back at him with a mischievous grin, conspiring to get her way again.

"I don't like that look you have right now Rose," Lex said. She just smiled and licked some berry juice off his nose and snuggled in his arms.

Trying his best not to sneeze from the rough tongue treatment, Lex and his Pokémon laughed their predicament off and walked the familiar road home. They didn't care about being pointed at or talked about by passerby's. As a blue house came into view, Lex sped up to get ready to wash up and prepare for the afternoon.


End file.
